What’s big and ugly and has united Republicans and Democrats? A.I. data centers.
An overwhelming majority of Americans say they’d oppose a data center being built near where they live. In New York, Gov. Kathy Hochul just imposed a one-year moratorium on data center construction, and there are over 100 other local or statewide moratorium proposals across the country. A.I.’s explosive momentum over the last few years seems to have finally run into a force that could slow it down: the messy politics of getting things done in the real world...
What’s big and ugly and has united Republicans and Democrats? A.I. data centers.
An overwhelming majority of Americans say they’d oppose a data center being built near where they live. In New York, Gov. Kathy Hochul just imposed a one-year moratorium on data center construction, and there are over 100 other local or statewide moratorium proposals across the country. A.I.’s explosive momentum over the last few years seems to have finally run into a force that could slow it down: the messy politics of getting things done in the real world.
So, is that a good thing, or a bad thing? And how much is the data center backlash about the actual construction of these buildings, and how much is it about A.I. itself?
Jasmine Sun has an excellent newsletter covering both the culture inside the A.I. companies and the anger that’s been building against them. And she just finished a reporting trip in the Midwest, where she interviewed people on all sides of the data center fight. So I wanted to talk to her about what she saw and what she thinks A.I. companies can learn from the growing movement against them.
Mentioned:
@jasmine’s Substack
Silicon Valley Is Bracing for a Permanent Underclass by Jasmine Sun
Sam Bankman-Fried on Arbitrage and Altruism (Ep. 145)
Is Your Social Life Missing Something? This Conversation Is for You. With Priya Parker, The Ezra Klein Show
Book Recommendations:
The Maniac by Benjamin Labatut
The Technology Trap by Carl Benedikt Frey
The Art of Gathering by Priya Parker
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